Cunningham said last night that Fitzgerald's role "is a decision for the clubs of the county and the county board", but stressed that he would like to see the former Clare goalkeeper stay on.

"Davy's contract is up and it's up to us to negotiate a new contract with him," Cunningham said. "What we usually do is appoint four executive officers to come back with a recommendation. They are the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer. But nothing will be done until the September (13) meeting."

Cunningham revealed that Fitzgerald told him after Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final defeat against Tipperary that he would need "three to four weeks" to decide whether or not he will remain at the helm in 2011.

Essentially, Fitzgerald's fate is in his own hands as Cunningham insisted that the two-time All-Ireland SHC medallist has "a lot of support out there".

"I've spoken to Davy and he's very disappointed over the match on Sunday," Cunningham added. "But there seems to be a lot of support out there for him to stay. Anybody I spoke to said to me that he should. He's been very positive for Waterford hurling and has brought a very professional approach.

"He's done a great job and no matter what happened last Sunday, we go down in the history books as Munster champions in 2010."

Dan Shanahan announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on Monday but Cunningham hopes other seasoned Waterford stars such as Ken McGrath and 37-year-old Tony Browne will play on.

"I'm fairly confident that all of the other players will stay on, including Ken," Cunningham said. "He's had his injuries but he's really coming back to form now and improved mighty in the last few weeks. I'd say Tony will give it another go -- he had a great year."

Paying tribute to Shanahan, Cunningham said: "I was a selector for Waterford's Tony Forrestal team when Dan played U-14. He started playing for Waterford in the 1990s and Justin McCarthy brought him on an awful lot.

"Gerald McCarthy worked hard with him too while Justin got him hitting off his right-hand side."